要 (yào) + verb / adjective + 了 (le)
Mandarin Chinese Articles
How to express “be about to” in Mandarin Chinese?
By: Grace Zhang Thu Jan 04 2024
Mandarin chineseSentence Structure
Do you want to know how to express “something is about to happen” in Mandarin Chinese? Typical structures you can use are: (快 (kuài) /就 (jiù)) 要 (yào) ...了 (le, be about to), which indicate an action or a change of state of affairs is going to take place soon. For example,
飞机要开了｡
(Fēijī yào kāi le.)
The plane is about to take off.
The word 要 (yào) is used before the verbNo definition set for verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. 开 (kāi, to take off) , and 了 (le) is used at the end of the sentenceNo definition set for sentenceLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. 要 and 了 tend to be used together as a pair; missing either would not convey the intended meaning. For example, 飞机要开 (Fēijī yào kāi, The plane is taking off) is not grammatically correct, and 飞机开了 (Fēijī kāi le) means the aircraft has already taken off. Therefore, neither of them in isolation can express the meaning of “the plane is about to take off” appropriately. Let’s dive in to get more information about these structures.
Table of Contents
How to use the structure 要 (yào) ... 了 (le, “be about to”) in Mandarin Chinese?
The structure of 要 (yào) ... 了 (le) is used to express “something is about to happen.” 要 (yào) can combine with a verb (e.g. “run”) or an adjective (e.g. “red”), where 要 (yào) here means “soon will.” 了 (le)(le) indicates a change of state/situation.
For example:
他要走 (verb)了。
(Tā yào zǒu le.)
He is about to leave.
In the above example, 要 (yào) ... 了 (le) combines with the action 走 (zôu, to leave) to say that the action will happen in the immediate future.
树上的苹果要红 (adjective)了。
(Shùshang de píngguǒ yào hóng le.)
The apples on the tree are about to turn red (to be ripe).
In this sentence, 要 (yào) goes with the adjective 红 (hóng, red) to indicate a change of color is imminent.
How to use the structure 就要 (jiù yào) ... 了 (le, “be about to”) in Mandarin Chinese?
The structure of 要 (yào) ... 了 (le) can combine with 就 (jiù, at once) to form another version of “be about to.” 就 should be placed before 要 (yào). For example,
饭就要做好了。
(Fàn jiù yào zuò hǎo le.)
Dinner will be ready soon.
Important
The sentence 饭就要做好了 (Fàn jiù yào zuò hǎo le, Dinner will be ready soon) can also be put in the following different forms, and they all mean the same thing:
饭就做好了。
(Fàn jiù zuò hǎo le. )
Dinner will be ready soon.
In the above sentence, 要 (yào) is omitted. Note that when the above sentence is put in certain contexts, it may mean something else. For example, 我回家的时候，饭就做好了。 (Wǒ huíjiā de shíhou, fàn jiù zuò hǎo le, When I got home, dinner was ready.).
饭就好了。
(Fàn jiù hǎo le.)
Dinner will be ready soon.
In the above sentence, 做 (zuò, to make) is omitted, because 好 (hǎo) in the sentence conveys the information that dinner will be “ready,” which makes the meaning conveyed by 做 (zuò) redundant.
How to use the structure 快要 (kuài yào) … 了 (le, “be about to”) in Mandarin Chinese?
The word 快 (kuài) means “soon,” “quickly” and can be added before the structure 要 (yào)… 了 (le) to mean something is about to happen. For example,
她快要来了。
(Tā kuài yào lái le.)
She is about to arrive.
Similar to the structure 就要 (jiù yào) ... 了 (le), 要 in the structure of 快要 (kuài yào) ... 了 (le) can also be omitted to become 她快来了 (Tā kuài lái le), which means the same as 她快要来了 (Tā kuài yào lái le).
Tip
When followed by a time or quantity, 快(要) can also be used to express proximity in time and quantity (translated as “almost”). For example,
快要八点了。
(Kuài yào bādiǎn le. )
It's almost eight o'clock.
他快七十岁了。
(Tā kuài qīshísuì le.)
He is almost 70 years old.
There is a difference between 快要 (kuài yào) and 就要 (jiù yào) : 就要 can be used with time phrases that are placed in front of the whole sentence, but 快要 cannot. For example,
(X)下个月他快要毕业了。
(Xiàgèyuè tā kuài yào bìyè le.)
He is about to graduate next month.
O下个月他就要毕业了。
(Xiàgèyuè tā jiù yào bìyè le. )
He will soon graduate next month.
To sum up
The patterns are (快 kuài/ 就 jiù) 要 (yào) + verb/adjective + 了 (le) to say that something will soon take place.
The above patterns mean that some action/change of state is about to happen.
快 (kuài) or 就 (jiù) should be added before 要 (yào) to make different versions of 要 (yào)... 了 (le), and these versions are basically interchangeable in meaning.
When 快 (kuài)/ 就 (jiù) is added, 要 (yào)can be omitted, but 了 (le) cannot be omitted.
Now that you know how to express “be about to,” it is time to put your knowledge into practice. Click here to begin the exercises!
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How to express be about to in Mandarin Chinese~Activities
